Words of Gold

The game is a variation of word puzzle scrabble games such as Words With Friends. Each level has an empty gameboard with a starting point for words and might contain obstacles. Random letters available to form words are placed at the bottom, and the user needs to drag them into the board. The player can create words horizontally or vertically.

Each level contains a certain objective that must be completed in a given number of moves (or on a time limit); some levels require clearing "moss" off the board by making matches on top of them, reaching a certain score, getting top hat items to the bottom of the board, or having to clear a certain number of Words.

Levels may also contain blocks to make them more difficult, such as boxes or bombs (which end the level if they are not matched before they go off), multi-layered moss blocks, and others. Boosters can be earned or purchased to provide assistance during levels.

Additional letters are placed in the pile by matching a combination of 5 letters. Blank letters show up randomly and allow you to choose what letter you want it to be, helping you form words.

Some letters might have a special value, that will give the user more points. They are marked with a small number in the down-left corner of the tile. The user might also get “Illusion” letters. Illusion letters are purple tiles that change letters every round.

The player can also use various boosters before or into the level to attempt to win levels more easily or extend play after a lost level. Boosters include Hints (shows a word), Shuffle (reorders all words), Wand (changes letter to a blue or green colored letter), Hammer (clears a piece from the board), and Rainbow (all colored words explode). Extra Moves or Extra Time can also be acquired through in-app purchases.

The game is primarily monetized through in-app purchases (through Facebook credits).[1] Players begin with five "lives", lost whenever a level is failed, a common feature in Cupcake’s games.

When they are exhausted, users can either send requests to their Facebook friends for more lives, wait for them to replenish themselves (a life is restored every half-hour), or purchase them.

At certain points, primarily at the start of new "episodes", users must also either purchase or receive a request from at least three friends before they may access the next set of levels.

The game also includes in-game advertisements to monetize users that choose to play for free. The game includes freemium content similar to the likes of Candy Crush.

Once all levels in an episode are completed, the next episode (starting at episode 2) is locked and the player must either get three friends on Facebook to send them "tickets" to unlock the next episode, it can also be unlocked directly through the in-game store. Other than waiting the time period until mystery quests are available, using in-app purchases is the only way to unlock episodes.